Nullification Movement: State sovereignty

The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791. The Tenth Amendment states the Constitution’s principle of federalism by providing that powers not granted to the federal government nor prohibited to the States by the Constitution are reserved to the States or the people. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Nullification Movements:

State Marijuana Laws An honest reading of the Constitution with an original understanding of the Founders and Ratifiers makes it quite clear that the federal government has no constitutional authority to override state laws on marijuana. All three branches of the federal government, however, have interpreted (and re-interpreted) the commerce clause of the Constitution to authorize them to engage in this activity, even though there’s supposedly no “legal” commerce in the plant. At best, these arguments are dubious; at worst an intentional attack on the Constitution and your liberty.CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT STATE MARIJUANA LEGISLATION^back to topTSA In response to increased “security” measures forced upon the people at airports around the country – naked body scanners, “enhanced pat downs,” and more, legislation is being proposed to protect the right of the people to be secure in “their persons, houses, papers, and effects.”CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT STATE-LEVEL TSA LEGISLATION^back to topNDAA: Liberty Preservation Act “the Legislature finds that the enactment into law by the United States Congress of Sections 1021 and 1022 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, Public Law Number 112-81, is inimical to the liberty, security and well-being of the people of (STATE), and was adopted by the United States Congress in violation of the limits of federal power in United States Constitution”CLICK HERE FOR LIBERTY PRESERVATION ACT TRACKING^back to topHealth Care Freedom Act The Health Care Freedom Act is considered in states as either a bill or a state constitutional amendment – effectively prohibiting the enactment of any new government-run healthcare programs within the state. While many of the bills have language similar to true nullification legislation, many of them are promoted solely as a vehicle to drive a federal court battle – which is not nullification in its true sense.CLICK HERE FOR HEALTH CARE FREEDOM ACT TRACKING^back to topFood Freedom Act The Food Freedom Act is commonly considered a direct response to the “Food Safety and Modernization Act” from Washington D.C. The FFA declares that food grown and produced in state, when sold in state are beyond the authority of Congress under its constitutional power to regulate commerce among the states. The FFA is primarily a Tenth Amendment challenge to the powers of Congress under the commerce clause, with food as the object.CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT FOOD FREEDOM ACT LEGISLATION^back to topIntrastate Commerce Act As understood at the time of the founding, the regulation of commerce was meant to empower Congress to regulate the buying and selling of products made by others (and sometimes land), associated finance and financial instruments, and navigation and other carriage, across state jurisdictional lines. These bills attempt to reassert this original meaning of the commerce clause over wide areas of policy and effectively nullify federal laws and regulations that violate such limitations by regulating commerce and other activities that are solely intrastate.CLICK HERE INTRASTATE COMMERCE ACT TRACKING^back to topHealth Care Nullification Act The Health Care Nullification Act declares that “the federal law known as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” signed by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, is not authorized by the Constitution of the United States and violates its true meaning and intent as given by the Founders and Ratifiers, and is hereby declared to be invalid, shall not be recognized, is specifically rejected, and shall be considered null and void and of no effect.”CLICK HERE FOR HEALTH CARE NULLIFICATION ACT TRACKING^back to topConstitutional Tender The United States Constitution declares, in Article I, Section 10, “No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” Constitutional Tender laws seek to nullify federal legal tender laws in the state by authorizing payment in gold and silver or a paper note backed 100% by gold or silver,CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT CONSTITUTIONAL TENDER LEGISLATION^back to topFirearms Freedom Act Originally introduced and passed in Montana, the FFA declares that any firearms made and retained in-state are beyond the authority of Congress under its constitutional power to regulate commerce among the states. The FFA is primarily a Tenth Amendment challenge to the powers of Congress under the commerce clause, with firearms as the object. (source, FirearmsFreedomAct.com)CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT FIREARMS FREEDOM ACT LEGISLATION^back to top10th Amendment Resolutions These non-binding resolutions, often called “state sovereignty resolutions” do not carry the force of law. Instead, they are intended to be a statement of the legislature of the state. They play an important role, however. If you owned an apartment building and had a tenant not paying rent, you wouldn’t show up with an empty truck to kick them out without first serving notice. That’s how we view these Resolutions – as serving “notice and demand” to the Federal Government to “cease and desist any and all activities outside the scope of their constitutionally-delegated powers.” Follow-up, of course, is a must.CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT 10TH AMENDMENT RESOLUTIONS^back to topREAL ID Act Led by Maine in early 2007, 25 states over the past 2 years have passed resolutions and binding laws denouncing and refusing the implement the Bush-era law which many expressed concerned about privacy, funding and more. While the law is still on the books in D.C., its implementation has been “delayed” numerous times in response to this massive state resistance, and in practice, is virtually null and void.CLICK HERE FOR ANTI-REAL ID LEGISLATION^back to topDefend the Guard Under the Constitution, the militia (now called the National Guard) may only be called into duty by the federal government in three specific situations. According to Article I, Section 8; Clause 15, the Congress is given the power to pass laws for “calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.” The militia was intended by the Founders and Ratifiers to be defense force and nothing more. Deployments outside the country were not considered, and neither were internal deployments in pursuance of powers that were not delegated to the federal government. Congress has passed numerous laws in the past 100 years giving the federal government additional authority not mentioned in the Constitution. But, without amendment, altering the enumerated powers by legislative fiat is, in and of itself, unconstitutional. Campaigns in states around the country are working to reassert the authority of governors over guard troops.CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT DEFEND THE GUARD LEGISLATION^back to topSheriffs First Legislation A “Sheriffs First” bill would make it a state crime for any federal agent to make an arrest, search, or seizure within the state without first getting the advanced, written permission of the elected county sheriff of the county in which the event is to take place.CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT SHERIFFS FIRST LEGISLATION^back to topCap and Trade/EPA Cap and Trade and EPA regulations and acts are often claimed to be authorized under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. At best, this is a highly dubious claim. This interstate regulation of “commerce” did not include agriculture, manufacturing, mining, or land use. Nor did it include activities that merely “substantially affected” commerce.CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT CAP AND TRADE/EPA NULLIFICATION LEGISLATION^back to topState Sovereignty and Federal Tax Funds Act Such laws would require that all federal taxes come first to the state”s Department of Revenue. A panel of legislators would assay the Constitutional appropriateness of the Federal Budget, and then forward to the federal government a percentage of the federal tax dollars that are delineated as legal and Constitutionally-justified. The remainder of those dollars would be assigned to budgetary items that are currently funded through federal allocations and grants or returned to the people of the state.CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT FEDERAL TAX FUNDS LEGISLATION^back to top10th Amendment Bills Unlike the many 10th Amendment Resolutions that have been introduced around the country since 2008, these “10th Amendment” or “State Sovereignty” bills are proposals for binding legislation. They include language to affirm the sovereignty of the people of the state and to create a commission or a committee to review the Constitutionality of acts emanating from the federal government.CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT 10TH AMENDMENT BILLSPotential Future Efforts:

Patriot Act

No Child Left Behind

History of Nullification: While the media generally portrays nullification as being solely aligned with the efforts of the nullifiers of the South and the Civil War, this is certainly false, and reeks of misinformation. Nullification has a long history in the American tradition and has been invoked in support of free speech, in opposition to war and fugitive slave laws, and more. Read more on this history here.